Press release
Minister of State Naughton welcomes Hotline.ie 2020 Annual Report
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The Minister of State with special responsibility for Civil and Criminal Justice, Hildegarde Naughton TD, has today welcomed the publication of the 2020 Annual Report of Hotline.ie, the national reporting service for potentially criminal content online, especially child sexual abuse material.
Minister Naughton said:
"In 2020, throughout the challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, Hotline.ie continued to provide a vital avenue for members of the public to securely, anonymously and confidentially report suspected illegal content online, particularly child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Hotline.ie has carried out this commendable and difficult work for 22 years with the utmost diligence and professionalism."
Noting the rise in sexually explicit imagery or videos taken by children and adolescents under the age of 18, where no adult is visible in the imagery, the Minister added:
"This report identifies the growing issue of self-generated material. It is a great concern that 2020 saw a 142% year-on-year increase in such material, and further underlines the need to maintain a consistent focus on child safety online. This development should be considered within the context of the continuing increase in public reports to Hotline.ie of suspected illegal content. 2020 is the third consecutive year that Hotline.ie has received over 10,000 reports from the public."
Considering the danger and damage caused by the proliferation of child sex abuse material online, the Minister said:
"As this Annual Report details, child sexual abuse material is not a victimless crime. Each report can involve anything from a single image to thousands of images and videos, with victims ranging in age from infants to pubescent children. Every such image and video is a crime, and for each of these there is a victim, or victims, who have suffered abuse, and who are re-victimised each time their abuse is viewed as it is disseminated across the globe."
Encouraging further industry engagement, the Minister noted the need for further companies to take up corporate membership of Hotline.ie, stating:
"Combatting illegal, harmful and predatory use of the internet requires the broadest multi-agency responses possible. Following the January 2021 online webinar for tech companies organised by the Department of Justice, it is disappointing to see a relatively low level of uptake of new corporate membership. As Hotline.ie supports a collaborative approach, serving as both a conduit between An Garda Síochána and industry members and as a knowledge hub for industry, it is a missed opportunity that a number of large online platforms situated in Ireland have not yet signed up to this national reporting service."
Commenting on the government’s overall plan to improve online safety and tackle illegal, as well as harmful online content, the Minister said:
"The programme for government contains significant commitments to improve online safety and to protect children and vulnerable persons in particular. This will be done through the establishment of an Online Safety Commissioner, the preparation of Online Safety Codes, new regulatory powers to deal with harmful online content, and a focus on education. In Justice Plan 2021 the Department of Justice has committed strongly to continuing to address illegal content online by strengthening notice and take down mechanisms to ensure the swift removal of all forms of illegal content."
Hotline.ie’s 2020 Annual Report is available online at https://www.hotline.ie/publications/
Prioritising online safety is a key element in building stronger and safer communities under the new Programme for Government, Our Shared Future, and this is reflected in the Department of Justice’s commitment to tackle crime and support online safety outlined in A safe, fair and inclusive Ireland: Statement of Strategy 2021-23.
The government's Action Plan for Online Safety is available below.
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- 2020 is the third consecutive year when Hotline.ie received over 10,000 public reports (10,583)
- 1 in 2 CSAM reports included video content (55% increase over 2019)
- 42% of CSAM reports were indicative of a commercial nature
- 142% increase (over 2019) in CSAM which appeared to be self-generated imagery or videos
The children in the imagery:
- gender breakdown: 9% depicted only boys, 82% only girls and 10% girls and boys
- age breakdown: 7% depicted infants (children estimated age 3 and younger), 77% pre-pubescent children (estimated age 4 to 12) and 15% pubescent children (estimated age 13 to 16)
- level of severity breakdown: 14% depicted explicit sexual posing of a child; 16% depicted explicit sexual activity of a child, no adult visible; 7% depicted non-penetrative sexual activity between adults and children; 59% depicted sexual activity between adults and children; and 4% depicted sadistic sexual torture / bestiality involving a child
Banner/link sites have been recorded as the top gateway, accounting for 27% of all CSAM leads, whilst the top end-destination identified by analysts were cyberlockers (45%), in most cases consisting of hundreds of gallery-style repositories.
In 2020, Hotline.ie traced CSAM to 31 countries worldwide of which 11 are without an INHOPE member hotline presence. According to findings, the top 3 hosting locations were the Netherlands, France and Canada.
Established in 1999, Hotline.ie works with national and international partners in law enforcement and industry to ensure that whilst child sexual abuse material is removed from the Internet, the children within images may also be identified and safeguarded. This work is essential to disrupting the cycle of Online Child Sexual Exploitation, preventing repeat-victimisation of survivors of child sexual abuse, and supporting law enforcement investigations. Hotline.ie operates in conjunction with An Garda Síochána, and its operations and procedures are overseen by the Department of Justice.
Alongside this ‘Notice and Takedown’ referrals procedure, Hotline.ie also provides its members with expert advisory and assessment services for the operational handling and processing of harmful and potentially illegal content.
Hotline.ie is Ireland’s primary channel for members of the public to register anonymous and confidential reports regarding potentially criminal content online, especially child sexual abuse material. Hotline.ie is part of the INHOPE global network of 46 member hotlines leading the fight against Online Child Sexual Exploitation.
The shared services provided by Hotline.ie include:
- processing and triaging of reports by members of the public of suspected illegal content online. Triaging involves the assessment of reported material by hotline.ie analysts, trained in line with international best-practice
- issuing ‘Notice and Takedown’ referrals (NTDs), and providing member companies with clear guidance on the status of content without member companies having to expose their staff to illegal content
- providing expert advisory and assessment services to member companies on best practices for the operational handling and processing of harmful and potentially illegal content, with an emphasis on protecting and maintaining the safety and wellbeing of member company employees coming in contact with such content
- supporting the exchange of expertise, knowledge, and best online safety practices across the community of member companies
- acting as an international and domestic focal point for member companies to collaborate on projects of common interest for a safer internet and greater child protection online